Today in History – 28 July

The decision to attack

Arriving in Akşehir, the headquarters of the Western front, under the guise of watching a soccer game held on July 28, 1922, commanders secretly convened to discuss the plans of a total attack that would lead to the absolute defeat of the Greek army. Commander in Chief Mustafa Kemal Pasha, Chief of the General Staff Fevzi Pasha, Commander of the Western Front İsmet Pasha, Commander of the First Army Nurettin Pasha, and Commander of the Second Army Yakup Şevki Pasha all agreed that the attack had to guaranty total victory. However, some of the commanders were not sure if the army was strong enough for an attack of this magnitude.

The defeat of the Greeks at the Battle of Sakarya had changed the course of war in Anatolia and gave the Turkish army the upper hand. The Ankara Government was planning to eradicate the Greek army with a final attack. Meanwhile, the Greeks had made plans to seize İstanbul to even out their failure in Anatolia and had shifted a sizeable military force to Thrace. This situation had given the Turkish army a perfect opportunity for a total attack. The commanders thus gathered to assess the situation and plan the final operation.

Two days after this meeting on July 30th, Mustafa Kemal, Fevzi, and İsmet Pashas finalized their strategy. As they were making the final preparations, İnönü expressed his hope and objective to Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu with the words, “We will see you in İzmir!”